It’s a shame that we even need devices like this, but I advocate even more agressive means. How about wiring everyone’s chair with a noise detector and electrical wiring? Go over a certain amount of decibels and get a shock to the nether region.

I just got a new camera, an Olympus E500, and got to take some photos of an artistic nature while in the Outerbanks. The following is of a woman watching her friend hand glide at the Jockey Ridge National Park.

Update: I realized this was originally poorly written, so I edited it. What can I say, I was on vacation at the beach.

So a lot of people have been whining (Primarily Boston Celtics fans) about the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Sonics winning the Greg Odom/Kevin Durant sweepstakes that is also known as the NBA Draft Lottery. David Stern is even promising to look at the process over the summer. Of course this is after the Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks purposely tanked their season to try and get these picks.

To all the whining I say this: the draft lottery did what it was supposed to do, and that is to make sure any team in the future think twice about tanking. Finishing last is not something to be rewarded for. If anything, I think the NBA should think about making it easier for those teams that are close to making it over the hump, to become contenders. For teams that are just out of the playoffs or just in, it can be a maddening circle of mediocrity due to poor draft position and a salary cap that prevents them from improving their team (guaranteed contracts don’t help either).

Anyway if the NBA feels the need to tinker, here are a couple of changes that I would make:

Penalize teams that repeatedly are in the lottery by reducing their chances of winning the top overall pick. Never allow the winning team to win the number one pick twice in a row.

Reward teams that improve year upon year without making the playoffs by increasing their chances of winning the lottery. This would reward teams for doing what they should be doing, winning. Yes this might give an unfair advantage for a team like Golden State, but after years of seeing the Mavericks and the Suns not be able to win it all, it’s time for some new blood. Parity is a good thing. It hasn’t seemed to hurt the NFL at all.

Finally, prevent teams from their own stupidity. Playoff teams shouldn’t be allowed to have the lottery pick of another team no matter what. This is what almost happened with the Phoenix Suns. They need a lottery pick like I need to gain 10 pounds. What the NBA needs is more fresh blood in the playoffs.

The NBA needs to create a system by which going into any season, any team can win. That does two things: one it keeps teams from tanking because they’re always in it, and two it keeps fan interest in cities where they believe their franchise is doomed.

Quick turnarounds are good for a league. Look at the NFL – don’t you think the New Orleans Saints success this season gives faith the fans of teams such as the Bengals and the Cardinals? I am a 76ers fan and have lost interest because I know they couldn’t compete. Fans of the Celtics, Timberwolves, Bucks, etc. probably feel the same way, that they are prevented from winning. As long as the NBA keep the current system in place – they can try and tinker all they want, the flaws will still overcome the league.

Last night’s episode of Lost was simply their best episode since the show launched 3 years ago. The final 16 episodes were remarkable if only for the marked improvement when compared to the first 6 episodes of the season. No more can fans complain about not knowing enough – last night delivered.

At the beach
How awesome was Hurley saving the day? Then Sayid killing the Other with his feet. Finally the coup de grace, Sawyer killing Tom who said he was surrendering, when Hurley asked why he did it, Sawyer responds “Because I didn’t believe him.”

Jack’s Flashback
Or shall I say, flash forward? Jack flashbacks are always my least favorite of the bunch. This may have been my favorite flash back (forward). Of course if you watched the episode, you know that last night offered a peak into the future after they get back from the island. A number of questions:

Is Jack’s father alive or was it the raving of a drunk?

There were a couple of tells that we were watching a vision of the future: the name of the funeral parlor was Hoffs/Drawler – an anagram for “flash forward”. Also Jack was using a Motorola Razor, which was introduced after the crash.

Jack mentioned using a golden ticket from Oceanic – but on the Oceanic-air.com website, Oceanic went out of business. This website is run by the producers of the show, and I’m believing it to be accurate.

Who died? There are many theories. The ones that make the most sense to me are it either being Locke or Ben. Someone took a screen shot of the obituary and here’s the text: LOS ANGELES Man found d(eceased/ead)
downtown loft The body of J— -antham of
New York was found shortly after 4
a.m. in the — of Grand
Avenue.
The — a de— man at The
Tower — — heard loud
noises — — m’s loft.
Co ——— uncovered the
— the from a beam in the
— bedroom

Who was Kate returning back to?

Under water
Charlie died a hero’s death and I’ll be sad to see him gone. Why in the world didn’t Desmond shoot Mikhail in the head? Nothing will kill this man – is this important?

A couple of things I’m thinking:

The person in the casket may not be someone that is currently hated or even known to us. We have no idea what has transpired since they got off the island and therefore Kate not wanting to go to the funeral may not be as enlightening as it seems.

I think that what we saw in Jack’s flash forward may or may not happen depending on what happens from here on out.

I think there’s an alternate time frame thing going on. That when the plane crashed, the “survivors” didn’t actually survive – but they’re not actually dead. Somehow they are able to re-enter a world that they don’t belong in and what we saw Jack responding to is what he’s seen as the impact of their returning.

The worst part of this is that we won’t get our next 16 episodes until February 2008. That’s a long wait man.

Well thank god 24 ended last night. This season was the worst fall from grace any show has suffered and last night’s two hour episode was a microcosm of the season. Plot lines that make no sense or that we simply don’t care about. Really, do you care that Milo loved Nadia or that Chloe and Morris having devil spawn?

To add salt to 24′s wounds, Heroes ended a fantastic season. A season in which it kicked 24′s ass creatively and in the ratings. Loved the ending – I’m glad Skylar isn’t dead. Actually I don’t think anyone died – but we’ll see next year. I am so glad this television season is almost over.

Last night in Philadelphia, Michael Nutter won the mayoral democratic primary. In Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 4-1, that means he’ll be the next Mayor. Michael Nutter isn’t the coolest candidate to grace the stage. His speeches aren’t happenings like Barak Obama’s are. But he’s level-headed, smart, and has a record of doing the right thing without regard to politics. The smoking ban in Philly, his doing; even though it wasn’t popular among restaurant owners.

When he resigned his city council seat last year to run, I thought that he’d be a great mayor, but people won’t realize that. He always seemed like the “smart kid” that was picked on in school. The choice of the union of political bosses will win. This is a city that elected John Street mayor, not once, but twice.

Substance doesn’t matter.

But I was proven wrong. Given a choice between big talkers, old-politcal bosses, and sexier choices, Philadelphians made the right choice. I wasn’t hopeful they would. I don’t think the general public is that smart. It’s the general public that has given us 6 years of George Bush. But seeing Michael Nutter win gives me hope that at some point people will say “enough is enough” and demand better legislators.

How about Philly showing voters all over the country how it should be done?